Second Chance
by HecateA
Summary: Bianca knows what Nico's going to do now that the doors of death are open and she can't let him do it.  Oneshot, Son of Neptune spoilers.


**When I read that Bianca di Angelo had chosen rebirth in The Son of Neptune, it got me thinking, all these weeks later... And when a book gets me thinking it can end in a couple of things, some disastrous, but this once it led me to this, and I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the di Angelo siblings, Hazel, the events they live through, their pasts, or the Percy Jackson series in general.**

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><p>You look thoughtful, hunter." Someone said. Bianca turned around, and saw Achilles walking on the brick wall surrounding Elysium, carefully placing a sandled foot in front of the other with the kind of cocky confidence of someone who could do anything and knew it.<p>

Bianca would sit there for hours looking at her father's kingdom, and hoping Nico wouldn't get lost in it. Or fall in the trap of this or that creature that didn't respect the land lord as much (again). He spent so much time down there…

It was permitted for her to sit there hours and hours at a time, considering she was Hades' daughter with a soul under Artemis' protection. And Achilles… Well, he was just a dare-devil that everybody had given up reasoning with.

"I am," she said. Achilles sat next to her, keeping a foot held out so it wouldn't push on the arrow sprouting from his sandal.

"Too close?" He asked.

"Yes." He scooted away from her, respecting the hunter customs she'd kept even now.

"What are you thoughtful about?" He asked her.

"My brother," she said.

"Ah- yes. What's his name? Nicolas? Niccolò? No; Nico, right. You spoke of him already."

"I probably did," Bianca said.

"Why are you worried? You saw him somewhere, except minus his body? Is he dead? Dying?"

"No. That's the thing, I see him here _a lot_."

"You are children of Hades. It's normal." Achilles said. Bianca didn't say a word, she kept looking out.

"I think he's looking for me." She said.

"What do you mean?" The Trojan War hero asked her. Bianca looked at him sadly and it still struck the man how much she looked like Hades himself; dark eyes, dark hair… But her eyes were kind and brave, unlike Hades'. That must have been from her mother, whoever that was.

She pointed up at the Underworld's rocky sky.

"That," she said. Achilles looked where she pointed at a tear in the ceiling. He saw chariots hovering around it, of Hades, Persephone, Hecate, Melinoe, anybody in the Underworld who had any power whatsoever. All were scrambling and putting their power to use to try and close it. Even from Elysium they heard a huge cry of war, and then bright light was blasted onto the crack.

Bianca had to look away and put her arm up to shield her eyes. She looked back and saw that it was sealed.

Then a block of rock fell like those glacier scenes in nature movies, and crashed a part of the fields of Asphodel and probably a few mundane souls.

She sighed.

"It's falling apart. The barriers between life and death? Thanatos went missing-"

"How do you know that?" Achilles asked her.

"I just _do,_" she said. It was like when she predicted a new soul coming into Elysium; gods helped you if you tried to understand why or how, she just _knew. _"But he went missing and it became even worst, and something's sapping at my father's power. The doors of death are opening and opening and fiends are going out. But this is only the begining."

"And this worries you because of what it'll mean for your demigod friends? Because of your father's power weakening?" Achilles guessed.

"Partially," Bianca said.

"Well what's the other part?" Achilles asked. She looked up at him with those brave and kind eyes, sad now as well.

"Because Nico's going to come find me."

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><p>She wandered down the street of Elysium, thinking.<p>

Nico would come and ask her to come with him, back to Camp Half-Blood. Maybe he wouldn't even ask. Either way he'd come, his young heart sparking at the chance of another life with his sister.

It'd already been broken so many times, and it would be broken a thousand times more. Bianca didn't need to do it for him.

But that's what would happen. She just _couldn't _go back with him. It would be against every thought in her mind, every feeling in her heart, and everything that she stood for. Not only would her brother be breaking the already fragile and glass-like laws of death; but he'd also be taking a step forwards.

She knew what Nico was going through, and it pained Bianca every time he jumped over a hurdle to see a bigger one coming up. He'd gone from the cheerful little boy with those _stupid _cards, to the angsty orphan who really didn't have anybody there for him, then he'd gone to having at least Percy (gods bless) and being squirmy around real people and real help offered to him, then he'd gone to being a traveling and uneasy tween, now he was a teen… And she wondered what he'd go back to if she went back.

For a second she envisioned herself and Nico sitting at a café and ordering a ton of food, or shoving each other around Camp Half-Blood, or showing each other tricks with shadows and bones.

He was smiling in every one. She was alive in every one. They were best friends again in each one.

Think of it. Wouldn't you want that? After watching the kid go through hell (literally and metaphorically speaking). Shouldn't she do everything she could to have him happy?

Then she saw the flip side.

Did she want to suck him back to the cheerful kid phase, if he was only going to have to go through everything else a second time? With twice as heavy as a load of bittersweet memories and regret and mourn on his back? Because it wouldn't be forever, if she did get back out there. If Nico fished her out, it'd be like going fishing, and getting a small fish. He'd have to throw her back in, except into the Underworld, not a lake, and could Bianca really put him in that situation? Could she really make her little brother go through his sorrow and live through his guilt and relive his mourn? Drag him back to his past only so he could go through it again?

Are you a big sister? Or even a little sister- that doesn't matter. Heck, you could be the brother. You might say you hate your sibling, but could you really do that to them? Could you really do that to _anyone_?

Bianca, at least Bianca, couldn't.

She couldn't even let this kid _think _he had a chance, she couldn't deny that right to him, she couldn't… She couldn't make Nico think there was a second chance in his reach.

It was a split second decision, as she felt the usual warm breeze that meant someone alive was near. More often than not, nearly all the time, it was Nico that brought that breeze.

She ran and a split second later, she was at the river Lethe, looking down at its banks.

"Miss di Angelo?" Someone asked. She saw a man wearing long black cloaks.

"Please," she said. "Are you the one in charge of rebirth?"

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><p>She stood in line, as she came closer to the River Lethe's fast and violent black current. She was always afraid that the current would sweep someone far away and they'd be lost, but two ghosts or spirits at Hades' service always caught the confused soul and brought him out, resting him on the banks until he woke up and was helped someone limp away.<p>

The elderly woman in front of her jumped in. Some people cannon-balled in, ready to forget, ready for a re-do. Others bit their lips, thinking they'd regret it.

Bianca noticed that most of them were old men and women who'd lived long and wanted to do it again. She wondered if they knew they might be born as something not quite human. She wasn't about to tell them, anyways

"You're too young to be here." The man behind her said. He wore tattered, fadded clothes with bullet holes, like he'd been rebelling for something somewhere in the insane world. She wondered where, the world above was a mystery.

"No sir," Bianca said. "I was young to die."

"Too young to die." He said. "You're no older than my own daughter."

"Maybe sir. But I died a hero." She said.

The elderly lady was pulled out of the current, limp as a rag doll.

"Next," the servant said.

Bianca took a deep breath.

_Nico. My last thought as me will be Nico. Nico, because I can't let you do this to yourself, because then I'd be a sister not even worth going back for. I love you Nico. _

And Bianca jumped, pulling her knees to her in a cannonball.

* * *

><p>"You're different," he said. "A child of Pluto. You remember you past."<p>

"Yes," the girl said. "And you're alive."

Nico looked at her. Should he? He'd come here to help, and he wasn't too late for everyone…

"I'm Nico di Angelo. I came looking for my sister. Death has gone missing, so I thought… I thought I could bring her back and no one would notice."

"Back to life?" she asked, her eyebrow raised over a gold eye with doubt. "Is that possible?"

"It should have been." Nico sighed. "But she's gone. She chose to be reborn into a new life. I'm too late."

"I'm sorry."

He held out his hand. "You're my sister too. You deserve another chance. Come with me."

_[text taken from the Son of Neptune, page 309, Hazel]_

* * *

><p>"Here she is," a nurse said, walking into a hospital room, holding a baby girl in her arms. She gently placed the baby in the mother's waiting arms. They readjusted to hold her better and she looked at the baby in awe. "Perfect health, congratulations Mr and Mrs Angelov."<p>

"My God, she's…"

"Perfect," her husband said kissing her cheek. "Of course, she's your daughter." The mother smiled, and looked down at her baby again.

"Wow..." It was a simple moment, of just taking in that _wow look how this baby turned out so perfect and my gosh... _until she looked up.

"We said we'd find a name for her on sight," she said.

"Alright. Nicole?" The baby started crying immediately. Her mother rocked her back to a calm and quiet state, sucking on her index and middle finger in no time.

"I don't think so," she said. "What about Bridget?"

"Bridget's my sister's middle name."

"Right."

"What about Delilah?" He asked.

"Pretty, but no…"

"What about Mary?"

"No, that sounds way too old-fashioned," she complained.

"What about something with 'Mary' in it. Like your grandmother's name. What about Marilyn?"

"No, that makes me think of Marilyn Munroe."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"Right now, yes." The mother said, stroking the baby's hair, looking into her newborn blue eyes. "What about Mariah, then? It sounds nice, but it means a lot."

Her husband kissed the top of her head.

"Mariah is perfect," he said. "Just like our baby girl."

* * *

><p>"Nico!" Hazel yelled when she saw him in Gaia's chains. They'd found him! They'd finally found him!<p>

"Don't," he croaked. "It's a trap. She's trying to lure you here."

"Then it _so _worked," Leo Valdez said, climbing through the window behind. He jumped out and landed it, and started looking around for guards or monsters or Gaia or something he could BBQ, just as Frank hoisted himself up next.

"Of course it worked!" Hazel said. "Would I really leave you there? I'm your sister!" She said. She took out her _spatha_ and hit his chains so hard; they burst into millions of tiny cubes, like safety glass would.

Nico was a bit too awestruck to move right away; and it wasn't because his chains were sliced off.

It was because maybe both Nico, _and _Bianca had gotten second chances.


End file.
